Just ordered a spool of paracord and am looking forward to trying some of these ideas! Question on the rifle sling....do you try to make it with as long a piece of cord as possible so you can unwind it for emergency use...or just make it and leave it at that?Thanks!Cathy

Just ordered a spool of paracord and am looking forward to trying some of these ideas! Question on the rifle sling....do you try to make it with as long a piece of cord as possible so you can unwind it for emergency use...or just make it and leave it at that?Thanks!Cathy

You'll find that it takes quite a lot of cord to make a sling, probably in the 50ft. +/- range. That's a lot of cord to carry around.

My pickup's fan belt broke on the way home from a party Dec. 26th last year, at around 1:30 in the morning. My wife was with me and we were 15 miles from home, which is about 60 miles away from anyone else we could call for a rescue. After a conversation with the police that happened by and a call to the local towing service that couldn't get out for a couple of hours I decided I had nothing to lose and nothing but time to think about this problem. I started looking through what I had in the truck and how I could use it.

Using paracord twisted up into a two strand rope and a trucker's hitch around the pulleys to make it tight, I started it up and was pleased to see the water pump and alternator turning! After 5 minutes it was still holding, so I got in and gently drove it home. The cord had begun to tire near the end and the lights began to dim, but it kept the water pump turning enough to prevent overheating. My wife was both impressed and filled with dread because she knew I'd be hard to live with for a few days after this. ALWAYS have paracord near you! I took pictures the next day before replacing it with a new belt, but can't find them at the moment. Stupid digital cameras!

Sorry to resurrect the old thread, and quote my own post. Someone asked me to return if I ever found the picture. Here it is!

I've used paracord to make dog leashes, and collars. And now that I'm addicted to knotting, I've taken up crochet... Dang.. Now I really want to crochet something out of paracord. LOL! Maybe I'll make TW a paracord hat.

How much would you charge for a crocheted paracord scarf?

Can you imagine how much paracord you could stuff into something like a stadium blanket? Make it in 6" wide sections of different colors so it's pretty, and if you ahve to cut it apart for the paracord, you don't have to risk unravelling the whole thing. I bet it'd be pretty warm too...

Put the TSP logo on it, and you've got yourself a winner!!!!

Another question sorta related - paracord for climbing oopses - I imagine it would work well with normal climbing equipment for hoisting GEAR up with you, but what would you reccomened for climbing rope? I go online and find 100 foot hanks of rope at dollars-per-foot prices - not quite in my budget. Also wondering how you figure out how much rope you need for climbing a given height? I'm mostly interested in rappelling for GTFO of a building in an emergency, and the tallest buildign I go into is about 10 stories - about 150-200 feet (including the parking deck and the utilities floor on top) - does that mean I need 300-400 feet of rope? *holy crap*

The most common building I go to is only about 3-5 stories, so about 50-60 feet, and I already plan on having a sturdy cheap bag to lay down on a window sill if I have to break something to get out instead of climbing to the roof. Since this is only intended for emergencies, I wonder if paracord would be appropriate to rely on for one time use, or if I should stick to the expensive stuff for EDC AND practice. Just wondering since i'd want to practice a bit and don't want to drop the change on TWO sets of expensive gear.

if you knit it just right (or crochet/knot/etc.) you could do something like a cast net, then "collapse" the net together with another weave of paracord to turn it into a blanket/afghan. In this scenario you'd have a blanket, but you could undo a couple of knots, yank out that ONE weave of different-color paracord, and you'd have a casting net! Or a "suspend my gear from a tree branch out of the way of animals" net. Or an "oh crap, I need to transport all these beanie babies loose in my pickup" cargo net.

I'd suggest a 6' long by 3' or 4' wide blanket - not too huge, but just big enough for a couple to cuddle on the bleachers at a football game, or to cover one person head to toe and still fit in a rucksack. With some extra loops on the ends it could even be modified into a pretty darn sturdy hammock!

Paracord is kind of like a shoelace - it's a nylon fabric tube with several double strands of essentially more nylon monofilament inside. A shoelace is typically on the order of poly fill in terms of strand diameter - really fine stuff, while paracord is more like lightweight fishing line piled together. The number refers to the nominal breaking strength in pounds, apparently 550. I doubt that you could break it just by hanging 550 pounds from it, but I think that's where it transitions from elastic elongation to inelastic elongation, abruptly leading to failure.

I believe it's called paracord because at least the same design, if not the same exact material, was/is traditionally used for modern parachute canopy lines. Because of the construction, you can yank the core out and use the nylon as webbing (like a shoe lace, torniquet, etc.) and the core material makes suitable repair sutures for fabric (not sure if I'd stitch up the fabled sucking chest wound with it... yowch when you try to remove it!) or even, *Gasp* as fishing line!

As far as I can tell, the "real stuff" is outlined by MIL-C-5040H, and there are several types, and type III is your 550 para cord that everyone talks about using here for boot laces and the like. The other stuff has varied breaking strengths, and you can read all about those in the MIL.STD specifications.

To answer my own question from a few posts ago, after doing a bit more research, I think I'm going to stick to "real" static rope for my emergency egress kit, even though it's a bit bulkier, since it's rather inelastic, and has a much higher breaking strength - thus if I fall, it'll catch me instead of snapping like a guitar string. The dynamic loads associated with a fall can greatly exceed one's own body weight after just a short slip, and the abrasion resistance of the para cord is not quite up to par as compared to "real" climbing rope with a canvas tube protector around it near the high-side anchor.

Totally digging the paracord for lowering my stuff down or as an extension line for when I just can't quite reach the ground/fire escape/etc., but the kit will be built around 150 feet of static line rated to something like 4000 pounds or more. 11.5mm rope IIRC - going to order it in a week or so.

My 11 year old was messing around and came up with the handle wrap on this one, and my wife added the strap. They have no clue what these are called or what knots or anything. but it sure looks cool and fits the hand very well. There is very little play in the cord wrap.

Notice that the single wrap that spirals down the handle is not a separate piece of paracord, that is the joining point for the wrap. Makes it very tight and a close up view is very interesting.

My 11 year old was messing around and came up with the handle wrap on this one, and my wife added the strap. They have no clue what these are called or what knots or anything. but it sure looks cool and fits the hand very well. There is very little play in the cord wrap.

That is cool . I have made a few bracelets and a sling for my quiver. During a trukey hunting trip my 13 y/o was complaining about the weight of his shotgun so I tied a sling for him using paracord in my pack. I will post some pics when I get time to take picture.

My 11 year old was messing around and came up with the handle wrap on this one, and my wife added the strap. They have no clue what these are called or what knots or anything. but it sure looks cool and fits the hand very well. There is very little play in the cord wrap.

Notice that the single wrap that spirals down the handle is not a separate piece of paracord, that is the joining point for the wrap. Makes it very tight and a close up view is very interesting.

Doc - these are both sinnets - also protugese sinnet - solomon bar - cobra stitch - most knots have a few names. Anyway, the handle piece is a standard sinnet - the wrap on the stick is the same knot, but instead of alternating which side you tie the knot on, you always tie on that side, which gives you the twist. Works good for keychains also, but not a bit bulky for a bracelet.

I have done the same on some walking sticks - I usually spray them with some poly to make the wrap harder / tighter.

Also, there were questions above about rifle slings - for a braided rifle sling figure about 45-60' depending on length. For a rock chucking sling, you need to make a braided pouch / hammock to hold your projectile - this takes about 20-30' depending on how long / wide you want the pouch. There are good tutorials online, but basically you make a big 'S' out of cord and then take a second strand and weave it through the S to make a pouch. Easy to do, hard to make it neat and clean.

I've been making these for years, I mostly give them away for gifts but I also sell them through my website. It takes a bit to figure out how exactly to do it and it takes about 20mins but makes for a very compact way to carry; paracord, ferro rod, steel striker. Just thought I would share, some videos on youtube on making the knot, I just widened it and make it over the rod.

I've been making these for years, I mostly give them away for gifts but I also sell them through my website. It takes a bit to figure out how exactly to do it and it takes about 20mins but makes for a very compact way to carry; paracord, ferro rod, steel striker. Just thought I would share, some videos on youtube on making the knot, I just widened it and make it over the rod.

I get the clips from the local craft supply store, like Michaels or even Joannes fabrics. I also go to the thrift stores and buy the old belts and such for a buck and snake the hardware off the ratty old ones.

i have made a number of paracord items and will admit that i am a paracord junkie (pics to follow soon). the help that i am looking for is does anyone know how to tie the small bottle holder for the hand sanitizer bottles. i like the look of the one that survival straps has made and would like to make my own. any help would be much appreciated.

Here's two links to Lighthound.com's lanyard supplies and 3 paracord weaving tutorials (lots of pics) Has alot of surefire accessories (factory & aftermarket) LED dropins also but his paracord supplies are extensive

pictures of a few of my paracod projects, i have made tons of stuff including key chains, bracelets, lanyards, i have replaced all of the zipper pulls on my BOB with paracord lanyards, 2 dog leashes, and am currently working on a new collar for my pup.

i have made a number of paracord items and will admit that i am a paracord junkie (pics to follow soon). the help that i am looking for is does anyone know how to tie the small bottle holder for the hand sanitizer bottles. i like the look of the one that survival straps has made and would like to make my own. any help would be much appreciated.

This just looks like a straight cobra stitch / solomon bar - once done, fold that in half like a U and stitch the sides together with another piece of cord. Then add a key ring or whatever in the middle of the U. Should be really simple.

On another project - I tied a sling for my H&R shotgun last night, which does not require swivels. Since this is my $75 pawn shop refugee, I did not want to spend any more $$... I used about 50' of camo paracord. I started by folding the cord in half and looping below the trigger guard a few times (right where the buttstock joins the receiver) and then tied around the barrel a few times. Then worked my way back doing cobra stitches. I ended up with enough cord to knot over my stitches near the barrel (king cobra stitch) for about 8 inches - this gives a slightly wider area right at the shoulder to make carrying more comfortable. This is all one piece of cord and should make my favorite squirrel dispatcher even better.